AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) Stock Holdings Increased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) by 22.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,857,324 shares of the mining company’s stock after buying an additional 3,882,283 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc.’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $467,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whittier Trust Co. bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 210.6% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter valued at about $69,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AU opened at $37.47 on Wednesday. AngloGold Ashanti plc has a 12-month low of $21.65 and a 12-month high of $38.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $15.73 billion, a PE ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.29.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Profile

AngloGold Ashanti plc operates as a gold mining company in Africa, Australia, and the Americas. The company primarily explores for gold, as well as produces silver and sulphuric acid as by-products. Its flagship property is a 100% owned Geita mine located in the Lake Victoria goldfields of the Mwanza region in north-western Tanzania.